Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 227,200 Shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its stake in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB - Free Report) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 555,000 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 227,200 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.52% of Safe Bulkers worth $1,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,796,424 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $6,413,000 after acquiring an additional 257,136 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $888,000. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 148.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 391,015 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 233,743 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $648,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 128.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 288,541 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 162,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Tuesday, May 20th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of Safe Bulkers stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 322,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,369. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a one year low of $3.02 and a one year high of $6.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market cap of $401.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.17. The business's fifty day moving average price is $3.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.64.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 19th. The shipping company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.02. Safe Bulkers had a return on equity of 10.04% and a net margin of 31.65%. The firm had revenue of $64.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.92 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.25%. Safe Bulkers's payout ratio is 29.85%.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.